9:17-50 - Witnesses; compelling to testify; immunity; contempt; physician's testimony; admissibility of evidence
9:17-50. Witnesses; compelling to testify; immunity; contempt; physician's testimony; admissibility of evidence
a. The mother of the child and the alleged father are competent to testify and may be compelled to testify.
b. Upon refusal of any witness, including a party, to testify under oath or produce evidence, the court may order the witness to testify under oath and produce evidence concerning all relevant facts. If the refusal is upon the ground that the testimony or evidence might tend to incriminate the witness, the court, after notice to the prosecutor, may grant the witness immunity from all criminal liability on account of the testimony or evidence that the witness is required to produce. An order granting immunity bars prosecution of the witness for any offense shown in whole or in part by testimony or evidence the witness is required to produce, except for perjury committed in the testimony. The refusal of a witness who has been granted immunity to obey an order to testify or produce evidence is a civil contempt of the court.
c. Testimony of a physician concerning the medical circumstances of the pregnancy, and the condition and characteristics of the child upon birth is not privileged.
d. Testimony relating to sexual access to the mother by any man at any time other than the probable time of conception of the child is inadmissible in evidence, unless offered by the mother. Before testimony relating to sexual access to the mother by an unidentified man at the probable time of conception may be introduced, the court shall hold an in camera hearing to determine whether the evidence is sufficiently probative so that the interests of justice require its admission.
e. In an action against an alleged father, uncorroborated evidence offered by him with respect to a man who is not subject to the jurisdiction of the court concerning his sexual intercourse with the mother at or about the probable time of conception of the child is admissible in evidence only if the other man has undergone blood tests or genetic tests, the results of which do not exclude the possibility of his paternity of the child and which tests are made available to the court. A man who is identified and is subject to the jurisdiction of the court shall be made a party in the action.
L.1983, c. 17, s. 13.